’13 Reasons Why’ First Look Gives Glimpse of Intense Trial

In a first look for season 2 of Netflix‘s original series 13 Reasons Why, viewers get a glimpse into an intense-looking trial that sets Hannah’s (Katherine Langford) parents against against the high school. Photos from episodes of Season 2 show many of the kids, including Jessica (Alisha Boe), being asked to testify.

One photo even shows Clay (Dylan Minnette) talking to a girl, whose head looks suspiciously similar to Hannah’s.

In another photo, we see an anguished looking Tony (Christian Navarro) leaning into a new character, Caleb (RJ Brown), in front of his beloved car with its back windshield destroyed.

The trial will put Hannah’s parents, the Bakers (Kate Walsh, Brian d’Arcy James), in the spotlight as they battle the school in efforts to achieve justice for their daughter.

One photo shows an aggressive Mr. Porter (Derek Luke) confronting school bully and co-captain of the Liberty High football and baseball teams, Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice). Fans will remember that Mr. Porter listened to Hannah’s tapes and knows all about his checkered past.

Though the debut season of the original series, one of Netflix’s most successful original series of all-time, told the story of the 13 reasons that led Hannah Baker to commit suicide, the stories of several other characters were also unraveled, including the story of a string of sexual assaults at Liberty High School. According to series creator Brian Yorkey, those sexual assaults and the stories of the survivors will play heavily in season two, which will show what it is like to “go from being a victim of sexual assault to being a survivor of sexual assault.”

“We look at the ways that sexual assault has been perpetrated over a number of years and has been in fact documented, and also the ways in which the institutions — the athletic department, the high school itself — are in some ways complicit in letting that happen,” Yorkey told The Hollywood Reporter.

As fans of the series will remember, throughout the course of the first season it was revealed that Bryce was hiding a dark secret. He became Hannah’s 12th reason for committing suicide after he raped her at a party at his home, while also hiding the fact that he had sexually assaulted Jessica Davis.

“I once read something online where someone said, ‘Well, Jessica told her dad she was raped so her story is over.’ I remember thinking that right there is reason enough to do a season two, because her story is just beginning — her experience continues to be a central part of season two,” Yorkey said.

While sexual assault is a major theme of the season, Yorkey also revealed that recovery is another theme that will play out.

“Recovery is a central theme for us. So many of these kids had been through traumatic experiences. Both due to Hannah’s death and also independent of that and just as a part of their lives, and we wanted to begin to see them start back on the road toward wellness and wholeness and see what that looks like in the sense that recovery is not a straight line and it’s not a simple process. That’s a central theme of the season,” he said.

A 15-second trailer teaser released this week week suggested that the show’s new narrator could be Tyler Down (Devin Druid), who was the subject of Tape 2, Side B of Hannah’s tapes and is in Liberty High School’s photography department.

Tyler landed himself on Hannah’s list of 13 reasons for his stalker-like behavior and obsession with Hannah, at one point in the series being shown taking photographs of an unsuspecting Hannah. After Clay learned of Tyler’s obsession, he spread a naked photo of him around the school, leading Tyler to be further ostracized by his peers. When fans last saw Tyler, it was clear that his story was nowhere near over, as he was entering the school with a backpack full of guns.

It was this ending that sparked rumors that the Season 2 premiere had been pushed back in light of a string of recent school shootings, many believing that a school shooting scene in the show was being edited out, though this rumor has not been confirmed.

13 Reasons Why season 2 will be available for streaming beginning May 18. Fans can catch up on all episodes of season 1, which are currently available for streaming on Netflix.